By Nate Wolf
The Department of Defense reached agreements with seven of the world's leading technology companies to deploy artificial intelligence across the agency's classified networks.
Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet's Google, SpaceX, ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Amazon.com's cloud arm Amazon Web Services, and frontier AI start-up Reflection will all serve as AI vendors.
The stocks weren't getting much of a boost from the announcement. Amazon fell 0.9% and Google parent Alphabet was down 0.2%. Nvidia and Microsoft each rose less than 1%.
The deals are designed to help establish the U.S. military "as an AI-first fighting force," the Pentagon said in a news release Friday. It will use AI to "streamline data synthesis, elevate situational understanding, and augment warfighter decision-making in complex operational environments."
The names left out of the Pentagon's network of AI vendors may be more significant than those included. Among the Magnificent Seven's AI luminaries, Meta Platforms was the notable absentee.
Unsurprisingly, AI lab Anthropic didn't join its rival OpenAI on the list, having been locked in a dispute with the Trump administration over the use of AI-trained weapons.
Emil Michael, the Department of Defense's chief technology officer, confirmed on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Friday that Anthropic remains blacklisted after being deemed a "supply chain risk" earlier this year. The company sued the Trump administration over the label in March.
Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 01, 2026 09:11 ET (13:11 GMT)
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